Lawn care tasks are commonly performed using various tools and/or machines that are configured for the performance of corresponding specific tasks. Certain tasks, like grass cutting, are typically performed by lawn mowers. Lawn mowers themselves may have many different configurations to support the needs and budgets of consumers. Walk-behind lawn mowers are typically compact, have comparatively small engines and are relatively inexpensive. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, riding lawn mowers, such as lawn tractors, can be quite large. Riding lawn mowers can sometimes also be configured with various functional accessories (e.g., trailers, tillers and/or the like) in addition to grass cutting components. Riding lawn mowers provide the convenience of a riding vehicle as well as a typically larger cutting deck as compared to a walk-behind model.
By their very nature, riding lawn mowers include steering assemblies that are used to direct the movement of the riding lawn mowers. The steering assemblies often take the familiar form of a steering wheel operably coupled to one or more wheels. With many conventional lawn mower steering assemblies, the steering effort required by the operator in order to turn the steering wheel increases as the steering assembly reaches its maximum turn configuration. Furthermore, an operator often desires finer steering control in some situations, but quicker steering responsiveness in other situations. As such, conventional mechanical steering systems are designed to balance these competing performance characteristics so as to obtain acceptable, but often less than optimal, steering performance over a range of situations. Therefore, improved steering assemblies are needed.